Erickson Has Reached 'Comfort Zone' In Miami

THE SPORTS COLUMN

May 17, 1992|By Larry Guest of The Sentinel Staff

You figure if a major-college football coach were to win two national championships in three seasons, his overwhelming popularity would make the governor nervous. Surely, the school already would have named the stadium in his honor and pushed bricklayers to finish the museum before next season.

They'd give the coach a blank check and ask him just to please leave a little in the till for a few library books and maybe a Bunsen burner or two. Rival coaches in the state would flee to the NFL or insurance sales.

Dennis Erickson fits the description, but oddly enough, no one seems to be making much of a fuss over the low-key Miami Hurricanes coach. Since taking

over the high-flying and oft-controversial 'Canes, Erickson has merely gone 33-3 and won two national titles.

Yet, he remains in the shadow of Bobby Bowden and Steve Spurrier's in-state dominance and could be considered, arguably, No. 5 in prominence among Florida football coaches. Heck, he's not even the most dominant coach in his town - that honor going to a guy named Shula.

To all of this, Erickson laughs with typical self-deprecating humor and nods in agreement. ''For sure, I can tell you those other guys are paid more,'' Erickson said during a back-slapping visit with Central Florida Hurricanes boosters.

This is not to suggest, however, that he's laboring for minimum wage. Erickson recently autographed a 5-year contract that is the centerpiece of a package reportedly worth about $400,000 per season. That he wants to stick around that long should be reason to celebrate for Hurricanes fans who have finally come to embrace this man with none of Howard Schnellenberger's charisma or Jimmy Johnson's flamboyance. As unpretentious as a pair of house slippers, Erickson is simply and proudly a quality football coach who is happy to leave all the celebrity glitz to others.

There was a time when he thought he might even leave the Hurricanes to others.

''The first two years were very trying. I spent a lot of sleepless nights,'' Erickson says of his culture shock moving from rural Washington State into the national spotlight Schnellenberger and Johnson had created. ''The expectations were so high. When we lost to FSU that first season, my own kids really had to take a ration of crap at school. Then we had to change the way our team played. Those kids felt they had to do the taunting and other stuff to be able to win. Gradually, our players developed confidence in our coaching style and discovered that stuff isn't necessary. This past year, I didn't have to worry about what was going to happen on the field.

Erickson has happily adapted to a Florida lifestyle, enjoying winter golf and deep-sea fishing. He and three of his coaches were still on a championship roll during a recent fishing trip: The group boated some 40 dolphin, and Erickson reeled in his first ''show fish,'' an 84-inch sailfish soon to appear on Dennis' wall.

So comfortable with South Florida and the UM program is Erickson that he quickly rejected overtures from the NFL's Seattle Seahawks last winter and embraced the UM extension.

''I just felt I had moved my family around enough,'' he says. ''My son, Bryce, has been able to go to the same school for the past three years and will be a senior this fall.''

Bryce Erickson may have played a larger role in the decision to remain at UM than Dennis may admit. Expected to be one of the top quarterback plums in this winter's recruiting harvest, Bryce is a good bet to sign on with dear ol' dad. They've discussed the pros and cons of playing for one's father, and Dennis is prepared to support Bryce's decision.

''He's tough, smart and understands the game,'' the coach says of the son. ''I think he wants to play at Miami. We'll just see what happens. He'll play somewhere.''

Dennis Erickson thought a moment and, with a wry smile, added: ''I ought to be able to sign him. I've already bought him a car, and I'm sleeping with his mother.''